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I found the film was just ok. His performance though was very good IMO truth be told. I think I've criticized him too harshly in the past just because I have issues with the film (boring US location, lack of classy 60's vibe, did not like Jill St. John etc.) but this time I just focused on him. Apart from looking fat and grey, his acting was very assured to me.
onto Connery's DAF performance.
while i think by this time, he wanted as much to do with Bond as he would want to do with Cancer, i do find his performance a little better than his performance in YOLT - perhaps it was the brief time away.................. nah, was probably the $$$ lol
He slept walk thru the movie but still better than anything Craig had done.
Exactly how I felt, until I saw it again yesterday, this time focusing on Connery only (and ignoring the film). The film came across a little better (I have a low regard for it generally) but I think his performance gets a bad rap because of the movie. At least I used to give him a bad rap because of it. He's not that bad in it really.
I know Connery looks rough at times, but other times he looks good and iconic, such as in the shots in the Blofeld penthouse, with the red carnation. Better for me than Craig looks most of the time in any movie.
Connery has at least one tough fight and stunt, and that clearly was not Moore's strong suit.
Personally I think Moore would pull this off perfectly, or at least well enough that it would merely be a case of preference between Connery or Moore as to whom you think performed it better. The one DAF line I don't think Rog would pull off, as it screams Connery, is 'There's something I'd like you to get off your chest'.
Some peoples pure hate of Craig is just ridiculous at times fair enough don't like him but Craig has but more passion and commitment to the role than any other actor in the series and that is a fact.
I'd argue that of Dalton, personally.
Reading the books between takes on set.
I don't think that can be claimed as a fact, more you're opinion. DAF aside Sean was pretty committed throughout.
He was way ahead of the curve. He understood that character was the key, even in 'blockbuster' films, way before anyone else. He was just unlucky. At another point in time he'd have garnered much more respect.
The Brosnan films were anticipated by the fans and the general public went along but Craig has turned it back into a phenomenon again.
I would also argue that TB might be regarded the top film gross unadjusted but really what competition did it have in comparison to the market we have now?
SF results cannot be downplayed, this has got the anticipation for Spectre in a completely different ball park to any Bond film ever.
Commentary for LTK they tell of Cubby almost having a fit, when he
Arrived on set. To see the stuntman on the ground and Dalton hanging
From a helicopter. :))
There's no denying what Craig has achieved. I was merely stating that when it comes to passion and commitment Dalts was there first. The stars just hadn't aligned.
Put in great performances, and did plenty of research on the
Character of Bond.
In real life, after this adventure, Mi6 might have begun phasing him out as more of an occasional troubleshooter.
What gives Sean real gravitas and aura in this film is that this is the same guy that battled Grant on the Orient Express, infiltrated Dr. No's lair, battled GF and Spectre.
This is the legend returned, aged naturally and as smooth and dangerous as ever.
I watch this film, more than any other Bond, and with my mouth open, agape in awe.
Sometimes I have to play the pts "welcome to hell Blofeld" and the Bond vs Blofeld Whyte House showdown, a few times each, before I can continue.
The final battle with Wint and Kidd is one of the great Bond finales ever.
What a way to go, smooth and deadly to the very last.
That final relieved look he gives Tiffany, when he realizes, that she's thinking about the diamonds being unreachable in space, rather than relationship stuff, is so Connery-Bond.
Sean was the smoothest of the smooth!
Revisited DAF again last night, primarily to see if my negative opinions have changed.
Even though I feel it was a mistake for Connery to return after OHMSS, which for one film turned the series in a new direction, Connery's performance is so effortless that you really don't catch him acting. As a former drama teacher, I tend to focus a lot on minor details, especially facial reactions, gestures, etc. In a bed scene with Tiffany, Bond is lying on his side with his back to her with a tight shot on their faces. She does most of the talking, to which he responds a little. The scene is a great example of an actor listening. Observe his expression and watch his eyes and the completely natural
use of a finger rubbing the side of his nose. Connery is most always in the moment.
He just doesn't seem to be performing for the camera, which makes many of his co-actors sound wooden and unconvincing--Tiffany, Felix, etc.
As for the PTS scene, I really dislike it. It's hammy and cheesy without an ounce of tension. The guy in the mud bath could easily have fired before Bond did a front roll and pulled the mud lever. Really, more mud pouring out of a spigot was so heavy it completely disabled the bad guy and pushed him under? And Bond knocking the light down on Blofeld's head knocked him out? The whole scene is so badly contrived and filmed, that it's embarrassing for this series.
Donald Pleasance becomes Telly Savalas who becomes Charles Gray? Why did the producers go this route? Nothing about Gray came even close to the off-screen Blofeld's in earlier films or YOLT & OHMSS. At no point in the film does he seem a threat to anyone, especially dressed a woman--a throwback to the TB funeral. And that he was In Connery's previous Bond outing just makes this dual casting business more irritating.
Not clear how Blofeld escaped, but who cares?
And how anyone thought Jimmy Dean belonged in a Bond film is beyond me. His overacting is just plain embarrassing. WW and toilets seemed to be important to the writers.
Felix? I've completely lost count of the number of 'one and done' Felix Leiters in the series.
Jill St. John, like so many Bond actresses, sounds wooden. Not the worst, but not the best.
I did like breaking up Bond's meeting with M and the diamond expert with the cutaways to the diamond mining and smuggling segment.
Wint and Kidd too comedic for my liking.
Bond jumping into the moon buggy was silly. Buried underground, not sure where the light was coming from for Bond to the see the rat.
The film is worth watching because Connery is back. He doesn't have the fire of his earlier films, but he's such a pro that you just appreciate what he's doing on film.
In most other respects, the film is poorly written and produced, and completely uninspired. While holding out for a lot more money, SC should have also held out for a better script.
In the final analysis, this is a Roger Moore film without Roger Moore.
Further proof that this was part of a Moore dream that ends at the start of LALD There is a strong argument to say that Moore actually performed but in a Connery mask a la FRWL
Excellent summary. I just watched it again and your analysis is spot on. I'd like to add that the car chase was very well filmed (particularly the wide angle high shots around the parking lot), except for the obvious mistake when it was tipped.
I too felt this was a movie made for Moore.
Having said that, Connery was outstanding in DAF. He delivered his lines brilliantly, and they were great lines (almost Thunderball level good). I completely revised my opinion of his performance on my recent viewing. It's amazing that for so many years, I wrote his acting off because the movie was naff. He was great (apart from the weight, toupe and grey hairs). The movie is just average.
I'd like to add that the car chase was very well filmed (particularly the wide angle high shots around the parking lot), except for the obvious mistake when it was tipped.
Until that model year, I was a Mustang fan. Like DAF, Mustang lost its style and looked a bit flabby. In some respects that chase seems more of a product placement bit than anything central to the story. But I admire the ambition of filming in Vegas with crowds lining the sidewalk watching the chase unfold. I wish they'd done more with it. The sheriff seems to anticipate Sheriff Pepper in LALD.
For the first time I did notice music that is not on the album version I have. A few instrumental pieces and Bassey's reprise of the DAF that begins with a heavy downbeat and what seems a slightly jazzier rendition of the song.
Says it all really, no one likes Rog, just not willing to admit it
Shut up you pair of fools. No-one is agreeing anything like that. Roger Moore was and still is a very popular Bond.
He still has an excellent relationship with EON, and is a wonderful ambassador for the series.
Nobody needs to admit anything.
lol, totally agree.
Yes, Rog could have done DAF, so ironic and true.
Can something be done about them? Their records are so broken they are scratching the chalk board at this point...
A testament to endurance, to be sure:)